Donaire overcame a sluggish start and eventually knocked out Darchinyan in the ninth round – but not before contemplating giving up sometime in the middle of the fight.

“When he hit me in the cheek, I felt like he broke my cheek. Part of my mind was like, ‘Is this it for me? I’m losing the fight. Should I keep going?’” Donaire said. “But I put my heart into it, and you know what, I will never ever quit.”

Donaire revealed to "Umagang Kay Ganda" on Monday that he had sustained an orbital fracture in the fifth round.